Are you an effective security leader with a finger on the pulse of today's evolving threats? Is your hand tightly on the reins of a risk-savvy security team? Do you have a foot in the door of the boardroom, where your counsel is taken seriously?

Or are you simply being led around from crisis to crisis, your hands tied by a lack of cybersecurity resources - financial and human - with no real understanding or empathy from senior management?

Your answers to those questions spell out the fundamental difference between being an effective or ineffective security leader.

Take this quick quiz below and get your score on the Security Leader Effectiveness scale. Are you prepared to lead your organization into the uncertainty of tomorrow's threat landscape? Or are you handicapped by your inability to respond properly to yesterday's tried-and-true exploits? Add up the score and see how you rate.

Based on my own subjective assessment of my role, our organization's cybersecurity posture and the relative strength of my team, I would rate myself as this type of security leader:

Developing security leader

Average security leader

Superior security leader

The gold standard

Security Leader's Role: Cybersecurity is accorded the importance it deserves in my organization

Agree

Mixed Feelings

Disagree

Security Leader's Role: I am the senior-most person charged with overseeing the discipline

Agree

Mixed Feelings

Disagree

Security Leader's Role: I am widely regarded and respected as the go-to person for cybersecurity in my organization

Agree

Mixed Feelings

Disagree

Security Leader's Role: I am empowered to force and enforce cybersecurity requirements across the enterprise

Agree

Mixed Feelings

Disagree

Security Leader's Role: I meet regularly with C-suite leaders to update them on cybersecurity matters

Agree

Mixed Feelings

Disagree

Cybersecurity Posture: My organization has a good understanding of the threat actors and threats targeting us

Agree

Mixed Feelings

Disagree

Cybersecurity Posture: We have sufficient threat intelligence and analytics - our own and that which we acquire from third parties - that helps us put the data in context so it is actionable

Agree

Mixed Feelings

Disagree

Cybersecurity Posture: We have a current, tested breach response plan in place, and all constituents know their roles

Agree

Mixed Feelings

Disagree

Cybersecurity Posture: We keep our systems and devices updated, patched and backed up to avoid being easy prey to exploits such as ransomware